The Mad Men avatar maker is cool, although the results can be somewhat awkward... you plop your avatar into a scene, and it's supposed to look cool, but it looks kinda like you are drunk. Which I guess is appropriate to the show.
This week, Gob Bluth.
To get me through my busy, mopey summer (the mopey part of which ends on Sunday, when Pineapple returns!) I've been listening to a lot of books-on-MP3 courtesy of Librivox.org and Audible.com. More Librivox these days, because the books are in the public domain - ergo, free - but thanks to sales and occasional coupons via audible, i've built a disreputable library of audiobooks that are more current. I say disreputable because I've listened to such books on tape as the Twilight saga -- which was much easier to listen to than perhaps it was to read. The reason is this: you can tune out. It becomes ambient noise, and when you tune back in, the plot will not have advanced any further. But in the meantime, you got your laundry done. Huzzah!
But, of course, being of fairly strapped means these days, I prefer Librivox, where you can download free podcasts of classic novels. In the course of the month of July, I've "read" three Edith Wharton novels and started on some George Eliot. I will finally get through Middlemarch! Next month, though, because I'm reading Daniel Deronda first. For some reason, the plots and characters are easier to keep track of audibly than when I've read these books. Also, I didn't giggle through the whole first half of The House Of Mirth this time because of Mrs. Peniston's name. The only drawback is that the readers are not professionals, and not all of them very good. Some have poor pronunciation (and I find my Greek-and-Latin-addled mind shouting the correct pronunciation of words), some over-act (male readers especially do this, and it's kind of hilarious), some read without any inflection at all, and some have grating voices. The worst of it were two chapters of The Custom of the Country, which were read by someone who had an affectless, nasal voice, who ignored the general rules of punctuation, and on top of that who had such a thick Austrailian accent that I barely understood what was going on. I had to rewind a lot to figure out who said what when. But some of the readers are great. The girls who read Summer and The House of Mirth were wonderful, and I currently have few complaints about the girl who is reading Daniel Deronda -- although her pronunciation of the word "piquant" as "pie can't" is a tiny bit irritating, and George Eliot seemed to have a fondness for the word.
I'm also listening to a lot of comedy podcasts -- the old favorite "Jordan, Jesse, Go!" having started a mania for me. I have almost an unhealthy obsession over the men of "Stop Podcasting Yourself," who have cemented my belief that Canada is an incredible country. Then there's "You Look Nice Today" which is a bit confusing at first, but if you stick with it you will find yourself a) pissing your pants over everything Merlin Mann says and b) entranced by the sleepy, sexy voice of Lonely Sandwich. Recently I added "Comedy Death Ray Radio" to my feed, which is a newer show and a bit more like a traditional radio show, although with cussing. Last week, the guest was the beautiful, amazing, humble, brilliant, and also apparently hilarious Jon Hamm.
So I have done well for myself, warding off the boredoms and awaiting my best friend's triumphal return from Germany. Still, it will be be good to have her back so I can stop acting as though Dave Shumka and Graham Clark are my friends -- although one day they will be. They will be. *rubs hands together and cackles menacingly*
I'm working on a project for a company that field-tests standardized exam questions -- grading student responses and evaluating whether or not the question prompt is coherent, teaching the students, and not biased in any way culturally or socio-economically. It verifies one thing for me: Kids -- still awesome. Here are some things they have taught me:
-"Komodo is a scientist who studies dragons. He owns his own island."
- "They are endangered because Komodo Dragons lay eggs and then other dragons eat the eggs. Also they might be hunting for food and see a fish in the water and go for it and drown because they cannot swim."
- "Komodos are become extinct because of volcano disease"
- "Komodo dragons are more afraid of women than we are."
and my favorite
- 'He wanted to be a climber like his family but then the unspeakable happened he became a teacher!!!!!"
Today being a rare day off, and a lovely day to boot, I took a walk down to Como Park to see if I couldn't get some color on my legs. I have a strange collection of tan lines on my upper body, but thanks to being in work pants and jeans most of the time, my legs are absurdly pale. So I braved blinding people and put on shorts for once.
It was a good day for people watching - families walking militantly from one pretty lookout to another while failing to linger at any one spot, couples holding hands, couples making out, couples who seemed to be thouroughly sick of one another, people walking big dogs, small dogs, and dogs that attract legions of little children. Such a dog I hope I'll own someday -- a friendly but discerning dog. One that will tolerate little kids petting it, but a dog that makes it known that I am his or her favorite person. I guess Maggie is already like that, but she doesn't live with me.
And there was an orchestra playing on the pavillion. They must have been practicing or warming up during the time I was there -- either that, or someone has an event that involves playing the various musical themes from Star Wars. Sitting out on a stone jetty and jotting down some thoughts, I overheard the very same music that plays as Luke Skywalker watches the twin suns of Tatooine set on the last night before destiny finds him. The very fact that I recognized it and worded it as such perhaps makes me a nerd of a fairly high order. But I am a nerd for narrative, and sometimes even if a story isn't very original or well written, it can still draw you in. And stick with you, even if you don't like it the same way you liked it when you were thirteen.
But now I am sleepy -- with the sleepiness you get from spending lots of time outside. And I have a full week ahead of me, starting with a long, long, loooooong day tomorrow. But in less than two weeks I'll be up at the cabin -- lovely thought!
